Check Out Soso Makaspak’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Soso Makaspak.

Hi Soso, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I moved from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles in 2016 to get my doctorate in Russian Literature. I thought I’d gotten the urge to be creative out of my system, but it never went away! The whole time I was in my program I read Art History books, sang in a church choir, did photoshoots with my friends, danced on the sidewalk, and drew pictures in the margins of my lecture notes. In 2019 after a mid-program crisis, I started sharing my art on social media, then I used most of the 2020 lockdown to practice my skills by drawing a sketch a day. I took a lot of online art classes too, and realized I wanted to do this more than just as a hobby. So, after completing my PhD program in 2023, I shifted my career focus from academia to art-making as a way to express and combine all my talents.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I knew from the start that this would not be an easy path. Artist careers are already difficult, but the past few years have been especially challenging for many reasons. The demand for visual art, especially illustration and portraiture, has gone down with the insidious rise of AI pictures. Additionally, diverse perspectives in storytelling—especially stories from the Queer, Trans, and immigrant communities— are being banned or receiving hostile feedback which makes for a distressing time to work. These current troubled times only confirm that our stories are needed now more than ever and require us to step up boldly.

While my creative career is off to a good start, I still have to take odd jobs just to have a baseline of income in LA, just like all of my other friends who are creatives. It often leaves me exhausted. The saving grace, though, is it makes it all the more rewarding when I do finish a piece or have a commission or collaboration come my way. My time is limited so it forces me to choose projects that I consider worthwhile.

In setting out on this path one of the most difficult decisions I made was to begin choosing myself over what I thought was expected of me. It’s a choice I still have to wake up to every day, and it’s made things less straightforward from a professional standpoint, but I feel I’ve learned a lot more about myself and the world around me than I would have if it had been easy.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The art forms closest to my heart have always been illustration and portraits, and, more recently, I’ve been experimenting with making zine comics based on my life and travels. Asian art traditions ground all of my work, especially Indian, Persian, Thai, Chinese, and Pre-Colonial Filipine art styles. In each piece I try to combine my research and training in these various art traditions as well as my mixed heritage to make my own style focused on fantastical and queer themes. My dream would be to work in publishing illustration and bringing lesser-known stories to life. But for now, I’m content with the odd artwork or two as I build my portfolio.

In addition to my budding illustration career, I still dance! I’m currently an active member of the LA ballroom scene. Briefly, ballroom is an underground competition scene founded in NYC around the 1980s by the Black and Latine Queer communities (how I got into the scene is a story for another time haha!) I compete with the House of Ninja in a dance style called “Old Way” often considered the first form of Vogue dancing pioneered in the 80s. It’s a dying dance form, especially in the American scene there are so few people who dance it, even fewer who are Femme Queens (Trans women). But a lot more young people like myself here on the West Coast are learning it and keeping Old Way alive. I’m always encouraged by my house to be more myself and try to bring unique things to the category. For instance, this was the first year I danced in a sari, and it felt so healing and affirming to combine my different interests into something authentic and fresh for a community I’ve come to love.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I love collaborating and being a part of big projects! In fact, I just finished work on a set of portraits for an EP with singer/multimedia artist Munachimso (also based in LA). I’m also currently editing a short film I co-wrote and acted in with my longtime friend and photographer Connor Simon (based in Honesdale, PA). It’s a Kapampangan vampire story that we really believe is creepy and sexy and can’t wait to share it soon!

I want to do more stuff like this with other artists using all my art skills which is probably why I always have at least two or three things going on at once. My most recent self-motivated project, though, is a comic strip that explores the LA goth-punk scene within the framework of gender identity, romance, and day-to-day living. Keep on the lookout for more!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.makaspak.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sosotjanaki/